Moses Ludel’s 4WD Mechanix Magazine – Moses Ludel: Publisher Profile

Moses Ludel’s professional writing and photography career began in 1982. A magazine journalist and newspaper writer, photographer, columnist and industry consultant, Moses Ludel is the mechanic, author and illustrator of the bestselling Jeep® Owner’s Bible, the Jeep® CJ Rebuilder’s Manual: 1946-71 and the Jeep® CJ Rebuilder’s Manual: 1972-86. The Jeep® Owner’s Bible™ (published by Bentley Publishers), initially released in 1992, is now in its Third Edition (2004 release).

Moses Ludel’s published body of writing exceeds 3,400 magazine and newpaper articles, travel and adventure stories and technical columns. His B&W and color photographs illustrate each of these feature articles and technical books, magazine covers, backcountry travel pieces, ‘Tread Lightly’ posters and detailed ‘how-to’ photography. Published photos now number more than 16,500 color and B&W images.

Automotive books and service manuals by Moses Ludel have earned part numbers from Chrysler/Jeep® and Mopar®, Ford Motor Company’s SVO and G.M. Motorsports. Moses Ludel taught adult education courses and wrote curriculum for welding, automotive technology and truck/diesel mechanics.

Moses Ludel conducted a dozen years of workshops at annual Camp Jeep events on behalf of Jeep®, Mopar® Accessories and the Mopar® Performance product lines. Moses’ published Q&A and workshop dialogues with Jeep 4WD owners is widespread and includes lively exchanges, ranging from driving technique and outfitting a Jeep 4×4 for rough backcountry use to the side effects of Jeep upgrades and modifications.

Professional Mechanic, Technical Writer and Photojournalist

In addition to earning a University of Oregon degree, Moses Ludel’s professional credentials include light and medium duty truck fleet mechanic, welding and heavy equipment field service, truck dealership line mechanic, owner/operator of a 4×4 and mechanical restoration shop plus work with high performance muscle cars, trail vehicles and race trucks. A photojournalist, author and adult education vocational instructor, Moses Ludel can discuss mechanical systems from the engineer’s level to the shop floor.

Moses Ludel has written and photographed extensively in the technical and outdoor travel venues…His work has appeared in dozens of prominent automotive and outdoor magazines in the United States, Britain and Japan—plus the Oregonian, San Diego Union-Tribune and other newspapers. Moses Ludel’s photography credits include magazine covers, ‘how-to’ technical illustrations, outdoor photography for travel and adventure stories, two national ‘Tread Lightly!’ posters, new vehicle testing and motorsports coverage plus thousands of illustrations for each of his Bentley Publishers book projects. In recent years, his focus has shifted to HD videography.

Author and illustrator of seven in-depth (180,000-293,000 words apiece) automotive books and technical manuals—including several ‘best sellers’ that earned vehicle manufacturers’ part numbers. These works were submitted for publication with all edited text in place, sidebars positioned, caption-callouts at each illustration and layout ready. As the author and photo-illustrator, Moses Ludel has created as many as 2,362 photo-illustrations for a single book!

Moses Ludel’s cover photo (left) helped launch the Jp Magazine premier issue, published by Dobbs Publications. Moses’ photo depicts a new YJ Wrangler on the Rubicon Trail. After three decades of professional photo-journalism and book illustrating, Moses Ludel has racked up more than 16,500 color and B&W photo credits…Moses participated on Team USA-UK alongside Sue Mead and Nick Dimbleby at the 1996 Land Rover Trek competition (middle and right), a 4WD triathlon and mini-Camel Trophy challenge.

Feature writer, photojournalist and columnist for a variety of automotive and truck magazines—freelance writer and columnist for the Oregonian newspaper, new vehicle evaluator for magazines, newspapers and SUV manufacturers, fabricator of five magazine project vehicles and six book project vehicles—each photo-documented from the bare frame to turnkey finished product. Moses Ludel has written more than 3,400 full-length feature articles, monthly technical ‘Q&A’ columns and ‘how-to’ magazine pieces (averaging 2,300 words apiece) for a career body of published work that now exceeds 34MB of text plus an accompanying 16,500 B&W and color photo-illustrations.

Between 1983 and 1997, Moses Ludel contributed to a host of automotive, truck and 4WD magazines. Moses’ technical articles, special interest stories and ‘Q & A’ tech columns reached more than 1.6-million enthusiasts each month. Outlets during these years included:

Vocational Instructor, Director of Training and Curriculum Developer—Moses Ludel has seven years of instructing experience in the vocational training area. Upon graduating from the University of Oregon, Moses taught at-risk young adults at the San Diego Job Corps facility as his career at automotive journalism unfolded.

In 1999, the principal at the Rite of Passage* Charter High School needed a short-term substitute instructor in the automotive technology area. Turning a “favor” into a five-year commitment, Moses set aside his successful publishing career to serve as the Automotive Technology instructor then Director of Vocational Training for Rite of Passage. During several of his years with the Rite of Passage program, Moses Ludel served as both the Site Supervisor of Education and Director of Vocational Training.

At Rite of Passage, Moses Ludel developed Welding, Automotive and Industrial Arts curriculum for adult education level training. He taught mechanical skills and welding to hundreds of students, represented Rite of Passage on the Western Nevada (Community) College ‘Tech Prep’ Consortium board and served as the school’s administrative member at SkillsUSA VICA. Moses worked closely with the welding program at WNCC (now Western Nevada College) and facilitated the transition of Rite of Passage graduates to quality industry jobs at welding, automotive mechanics and the building trades.

*Rite of Passage Silver State Academy is a challenging teaching environment. The student body is male high school students, mostly from disadvantaged and youth gang backgrounds—tough kids with great potential! From 1999-2004, Moses Ludel instructed and supervised the welding (GMAW, SMAW, GTAW, FCAW and oxy-acetylene), automotive/diesel mechanics, and machine shop programs. He served as Site Supervisor of Education/Director of Vocational Training and wrote technical curriculum for students ranging from Special Education ‘IEP’ track to college bound academic achievers. Dedicating five years to Rite of Passage, Moses Ludel received the coveted Rite of Passage ‘Gut Check Award’ in July 2004…Moses enjoys the teaching process and hands-on instructional environment!